thatcher and scargill

[The Jester]

how times change,youve got a big SLEDGE now on the water,{boat}.happy days.atb.

LOL....and me own shed...

[on the mark]

Utter crap. As Scargill said it was the economics of the madhouse. Every other country that mined coal at the time subsidised their coal industry, Thatcher decided to stop this. For starters think about the money spent on wages for the miners - 35% of that came straight back as tax and NI. The rest was spent in local communities, creating and maintaining jobs and livelihoods, creating more tax and NI and VAT for the exchequer. Now this money goes direct to the Australian, Polish, South African etc economies and we don't get a penny of it back. Do the proper cost benefit analysis and importing coal ends up costing us more money than our own subsidiesed industry would have

China is now a massive net importer of coal - it imported more coal than any other country in history in 2012. A lot of British coal was of high quality (anthracite) and could now be earning significant trade income if we still had a mining industry.

The miners strike was about one thing and one thing only - the destruction of the Trades Union movement. It had nothing to do with coal being economical or not and everything to do with destroying the NUM as a force of organised labour. The mines (and communities) were just collateral damage for which we are still paying the price 30 years later

agree on all that you have said there and with what came out recently that proved scargill was right and maggie was a liar, just wonder if that memo was ever leaked to a certain few?
ha!! i did think i had posted a lot longer reply to your post but obviously i hit something i should'nt have doh!!

[Topcast]

How mad are you lot? It's a shame the pits were closed I agree a lot of my relatives were down the mines including my brother. You really think thatcher closed the mines for pleasure? No it was the fact having the mines open was costing the government millions of pounds a year to subsidise it that's why. And the main factor was the pit mans hero scar gill demanding more money and he though he was bigger than the government he forced the government to look else were once he called a strike. But all this tosh about thatcher closing the mines is exactly that tosh. I wonder how much scar gill got a week while all the lads were on the front line with no wages because I know that tosser was still getting paid.

[Safetyman]

How mad are you lot? It's a shame the pits were closed I agree a lot of my relatives were down the mines including my brother. You really think thatcher closed the mines for pleasure? No it was the fact having the mines open was costing the government millions of pounds a year to subsidise it that's why. And the main factor was the pit mans hero scar gill demanding more money and he though he was bigger than the government he forced the government to look else were once he called a strike. But all this tosh about thatcher closing the mines is exactly that tosh. I wonder how much scar gill got a week while all the lads were on the front line with no wages because I know that tosser was still getting paid.

Topcast having lived through the politics of that era let me tell you I think you are misguided in your views about why the mines were closed. As those who have posted have already said most countries subsidise (even to this day) their mining industries because it is so expensive to develop areas where coal and other minerals can found.

Scargill was not the pitman’s hero as you said although was revered by many. As I said in a previous post I did not like the man for the way he got the miners out on strike and the timing of the strike. He was never my hero.

What closing the coal mines was all about was choice of fuel for the power generation industry. The government was faced with a choice of either continuing with coal to fire power stations or look at cheaper short term solutions. The government could have gone through a programme of de-sulphurisation at the power stations which meant they could continue to burn coal but cause less pollution to the environment. Instead they chose to go with natural gas and nuclear generated energy.

If you look at that legacy today, the very same tory government is in power, natural gas is running out and they still haven’t got nuclear as a viable alternative as they won’t spend the money to build the power stations.

Closing the coal mines was probably inevitable as there was already a programme in place to close the least viable mines and between 10 – 30 mines were always closed annually. It was the manner in which they were closed and the speed which shocked the working people of the day. Imagine closing every car plant in the UK and all the jobs associated with the plant over such a short period and seeing all of the devastation that would cause to families and communities

[Topcast]

I take your point they are valid however to blame thatcher for closing the mines is miss guided it was not a quick process there was a year long strike was that not a contributing factor in it and also the pay demands of the greedy?. Yes other countries are possibly funded but not to the degree that our were. Also the people working in the mines in other country are on pennies compared to the British miners. So you can't compare other countries to ours I'm regards of cost. Possible there mines are still running because they didn't have scargill helping the course. The same man is still living in his goverment paid rented 1.5 million pound house. He was only doing what was best for him

[cod magnet]

I take your point they are valid however to blame thatcher for closing the mines is miss guided it was not a quick process there was a year long strike was that not a contributing factor in it and also the pay demands of the greedy?. Yes other countries are possibly funded but not to the degree that our were. Also the people working in the mines in other country are on pennies compared to the British miners. So you can't compare other countries to ours I'm regards of cost. Possible there mines are still running because they didn't have scargill helping the course. The same man is still living in his goverment paid rented 1.5 million pound house. He was only doing what was best for him

thatcher closed the mines , the shipyards , steel works, heavy industries , because of her hatred towards the unions and working class simple to understand , unless your a torrie

[Red5]

thatcher closed the mines , the shipyards , steel works, heavy industries , because of her hatred towards the unions and working class simple to understand , unless your a torrie

And didn't the last government admit allowing 5 million more into the country to rub the noses of the 'right' into it....much to the detriment of the rest of the country who have seen their wages cut to try and compete, also impacting on jobs, housing and services?

[Topcast]

thatcher closed the mines , the shipyards , steel works, heavy industries , because of her hatred towards the unions and working class simple to understand , unless your a torrie

Rubbish the unions spoiled more thingts than they made good more pay great more holiday great oh wait we cant afford to pay all these peoples wages right strike is the answer most closed as the world became cheaper the british worker thought we deserved to be paid more than anyone else doing ther same job in the rest of the world

[Topcast]

why do you think the union has went from 20000 strong to 4000?

[Topcast]

thatcher closed the mines , the shipyards , steel works, heavy industries , because of her hatred towards the unions and working class simple to understand , unless your a torrie

i take it your pro labour? what have they done for the working class man?allow more debt allowing 120% mortgages that has caused the market crash?well done mr labour

[cod magnet]

i take it your pro labour? what have they done for the working class man?allow more debt allowing 120% mortgages that has caused the market crash?well done mr labour

there is not a true labour party now , new labour are chocalate torries imho

[Topcast]

there is not a true labour party now , new labour are chocalate torries imho

i agree there

[BrianJ]

i agree there

Totally agree.
In my younger days I was heavily involved with my union which started as TASS then became MSF & I now believe is Unite. I loved it at the time & especially the annual conference. I was a member of the Labour Party but it all sour when I attended my first local Labour Party ward meeting. What a shower of up your arse useless winge bags. They loved the sound of there own voice.
That was the beginning of the end for me.
Shortly after I changed jobs to a non union workplace & I lost all interest.
The big problem for me now is Labour & the Tories will never get my vote.
I have 3 choices , don't vote , UKIP or BNP.

[cod magnet]

Totally agree.
In my younger days I was heavily involved with my union which started as TASS then became MSF & I now believe is Unite. I loved it at the time & especially the annual conference. I was a member of the Labour Party but it all sour when I attended my first local Labour Party ward meeting. What a shower of up your arse useless winge bags. They loved the sound of there own voice.
That was the beginning of the end for me.
Shortly after I changed jobs to a non union workplace & I lost all interest.
The big problem for me now is Labour & the Tories will never get my vote.
I have 3 choices , don't vote , UKIP or BNP.

dont vote brian ukip bnp fascists imho

[BrianJ]

I agree Cod Magnet but I hate the thought of not voting.
Nothing worse than whinnying buggers that can't be arsed to vote at all.
Monster Raving Party is starting to look good lol